Edna Ferber | Criticism

SOURCE: A review of Emma McChesney & Company, in The New York Times Book Review, October 17, 1915, pp. 390, 396.

In the following favorable review of Emma McChesney & Company, the critic praises Ferber's realistic characterization of her protagonist.

According to all the rules of precedent, one should by now be thoroughly tired of Emma McChesney. Miss Edna Ferber should be especially tired of her, and Emma herself should be tired of life.

But Emma has always been a defier of precedent. She was, you remember, the pioneer among traveling saleswomen, and the travelers for rival firms shook their heads gravely and prophesied a sudden termination to the career of the Buck Featherloom Petticoat Company's charming young agent. Woman's place, they said, was the home—this woman's place, especially.

Her historian has told us, however, that Emma's ingenuity and perseverance brought her victory over all her rivals, including Fat Ed Meyers. Also it...